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Fred D. Blankenship (D) has filed his letter of intent to run for the district 1 seat on the county commission. He will face James Grover (NPA) and Jerry Guilford (Republican). Incumbent Danny Ray Wise has not yet announced plans to seek re-election.

In took a few months, but drug investigators arrested an Altha man this week accused of trafficking methamphetamine.

Jerry Wayne Melton, 35, has been charged in the case for allegedly trafficking in over 200 grams of the drug.

According to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, Melton was at a Pennington Avenue home back in August when investigators paid a visit. A tip about a possible meth lab at the home turned out to be valid when evidence of a one-pot cooking operation was discovered. David Lee Adkins, 35, was arrested at the time for that meth.

However, Melton’s wallet and a pair of pants were found in the living room of the home. A plastic bottle with suspected meth oil was also discovered in the home, along with a glass plate containing meth residue. Fingerprints of everyone in the home were collected and the items were sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Crime Lab.

The chemistry results were received from FDLE in October confirming 297.3 grams of meth oil from the Pennington Avenue home. Two months later, the finger print comparison results came back. Six latent finger prints on the glass plate were positively identified as Melton’s print. A warrant was issued for his arrest on trafficking charges.

Melton was taken into custody last week. He remains in the Calhoun County Jail with bond set at $50,000.

BY KRISTY TERRY
Executive Director, Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce

The 65th Annual Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce Membership Banquet was held Thursday, Feb. 23rd at the W.T. Neal Civic Center. The evening began with a reception featuring historic photos and newspaper clippings, followed by dinner, and an awards presentation.[Full Story »]

An inmate who fled from a work camp in Leon County was apprehended in Calhoun County Monday night.
Coty Anthony Turner, 20, is being held at the Calhoun County Jail.
According to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, a tip was received just before 10 p.m. advising Turner had escaped and was contacting neighbors in Daleville, Alabama, to come pick him up from the Airport Motel in Blountstown where he was hiding.
Dep. Scotty Norris, Lt. Adam Terry, Lt. Mark Mallory, Maj. Roman Wood, Capt. Michael Bryant and Dept. of Corrections K-9 with Ofc. Kevin Barton responded. The K-9 Duece tracked a scent from the motel that continued westbound on SR 20 to the Calhoun-Liberty Ministry Center. Turner was found laying down on top of a storage bin outside the building. He was taken into custody without incident.

A suspect wanted in connection with over two dozen burglaries around the region has surrendered.

Keldrick Trenaud Wilson, 17, is facing charges in Calhoun, Liberty, Jackson, and Gadsden counties, as well as Decatur County, GA. Wilson was initially apprehended in Chattahoochee Feb. 15, along with Xavier Darcus Parks, 18. However, after being booked into the Jackson County Jail, Judge Woody Hatcher set bond at $50,000. Sources say there was a delay in warrants from other counties being processed. Wilson made bond on Feb. 20 and walked out of jail.

Authorities in other counties learned the following day Wilson was back on the streets and began searching for him. By week's end, the Fugitive Task Force with the U.S. Marshal's Office joined the hunt. Wilson turned himself into the Gadsden County Jail on Saturday.

A suspect wanted in over two dozen burglaries in Calhoun, Liberty and surrounding counties remains on the run with the U.S. Marshals joining in the hunt to bring him into custody.

As reported earlier this week by The County Record, Keldrick Trenaud Wilson, 17, walked out of the Jackson County Jail Monday after posting a $50,000 bond that had been set by Judge Woody Hatcher. Warrants from the surrounding counties were being processed at the time.

Authorities tracked Wilson to a housing project in Quincy Thursday, but have not yet found him. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact local law enforcement.

Wilson and his alleged partner in the burglaries, Xavier Darcus Parks, 18, were first apprehended Feb. 15 when a group of investigators from Calhoun, Liberty, Jackson, and Gadsden counties gathered at the BP Station in Chattahoochee to discuss the case. The pair pulled up and authorities noticed their car matched the description of a suspicious vehicle reported by eyewitnesses in Liberty County. Stolen jewelry, cash and firearms were discovered in the vehicle.

A Clarksville man was killed in a single vehicle crash Thursday night.

James Swain, 44, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Swain was northbound on County Road 69A just after 10 p.m. in a 1986 Chevrolet Silverado. The vehicle ran off the road onto the southbound shoulder and entered a wooded area, colliding with several trees and a utility pole. The truck then caught fire.

State Representative Marti Coley (R) will no longer serve as the District 7 legislator following this term. New district lines have been drafted with Coley, who lives in Jackson County, now residing in District 5. A native of Blountstown, Coley says she hopes to serve one more term and will be seeking the District 5 seat in the next election. Check out the full story in this week's print edition on news stands tomorrow.